Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Why hasn’t the bird flu pandemic started?

Some scientists examining mutations found in H5N1 viruses fear major outbreak is imminent but others says pathogen remains unpredictable

BY KAI KUPFERSCHMIDT 5 DEC 2024 

2. Apex the Stegosaur, the most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold, heads to a museum

The American Museum of Natural History will host one of the most complete Stegosaurus specimens for the next 4 years

BY RODRIGO PÉREZ ORTEGA 5 DEC 2024 

3. These spiders capture their prey with deadly accurate slingshot traps

Vibrations from flying insects cue ray spiders to deploy web “cones”

BY HANNAH RICHTER 4 DEC 2024 

4. Unusual genetic results in prenatal tests can also flag cancers—in the mom

A new study found lymphomas, colon cancer, and breast cancer following rare fetal test result during pregnancy

BY JENNIFER COUZIN-FRANKEL 4 DEC 2024 

5. Mysterious radio pulses traced to dance of stellar dwarfs

Languorous cosmic beats could be generated by magnetic forces between orbiting stars

BY DANIEL CLERY 4 DEC 2024 

6 ‘Brutal’ math test stumps AI but not human experts

Benchmark shows humans can still top machines—but for how much longer?

BY ZACK SAVITSKY 3 DEC 2024 

7 Could melting ice wake up Antarctica’s volcanoes?

Researchers probe immediate and long-term threats at two of continent’s biggest magmatic tinderboxes

BY PAUL VOOSEN 3 DEC 2024 

8. ‘It felt very icky’: This scientist’s name was used to write fake peer reviews

Elsevier retracts dozens of journal articles that were published based on “fictitious” reviews

BY MARTIN ENSERINK 3 DEC 2024 

9. India takes out giant nationwide subscription to 13,000 journals

Deal allows scholars to read paywalled articles for free and will cover open-access fees

BY VAISHNAVI CHANDRASHEKHAR 2 DEC 2024 

10. In the Himalayas, expanding lakes signal growing flood risks

Some lakes have grown by more than 40% in recent years, new data show

BY ATHAR PARVAIZ 2 DEC 2024 

11. Controversial study redraws classical picture of the neuron

Fine-grained imaging of mouse brain cells suggests “pearling” of axons that researchers think may help with signaling

BY SOFIA QUAGLIA 2 DEC 2024 

12. Notre Dame’s spectacular rebirth offers bounty of data for scientists

Studies of materials salvaged from 2019 fire are providing insights into everything from construction techniques to climate conditions in medieval France

BY RICHARD STONE 6 DEC 2024 

13. Heliophysicists call for fresh missions to study the Sun—and a new name for the field

Decadal survey in solar and space physics says NASA funding for the field should be doubled

BY DANIEL CLERY 6 DEC 2024